Just a little blog for posting various creations for the BECMI / Rules Cyclopedia edition of Dungeons and Dragons. All hail the Red Box!
Updated whenever possible with a little something, whether a monster or spell or item or just a little list of whatevers.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Magic Item: Earth's Ending

The sun was swallowed whole, and Jie Chue swept swiftly towards his forge as the sun's darkness touched the earth beneath his feet, only to pause as a shadow fell across his own.

Dust-worn and weary the traveller stood, his trials plain and his oaths plainer still; bled dry to his core, betrayer and betrayed against his knowledge. Jie Chue nodded once.

The stranger he gifted with the earth's own darkness and a single breath:

Keep loved ones close, and hated ones closer.

Earth's Ending: This sword is heavy and broad of blade, sharpened on both edges and coming to a blunt point. The blade is forged of one piece with the hilt from a mottled, tawny-bronze alloy and is shot through with silky black marbling along the length of the blade itself. Earth's Ending possesses a simple grip of brown jasper plaques carved with indentations for curled fingers; its quillions are simple, heavy and swept back slightly, its pommel a heavy bronze ring bearing a tassel of tawny leather braids.

Earth's Ending is a two-handed sword +2. Its damage is considered aspected to elemental earth; it inflicts half again its damage against all creatures of the air. At will, the wielder of Earth's Ending may choose to bestow one or more of the blade's bonuses to a companion within 100'; this earthen embracebestows a bonus to Armour Class equal to twice the blade bonus gifted in the form of a flexible skin of tawny stone, until two turns pass or the the blade's wielder revokes the embrace. When this ability is invoked, the veins of darkness in the sword beat once.

Once the embrace has been bestowed 2-12 times, Earth's Ending promptly erupts in a roiling mass of ink-black energies, engulfing all within a 20' radius of its bearer. This scorched earth inflicts 3-12 hit points of damage on all caught within its reach save for the wielder of Earth's Ending, who instead takes -2 to Strength and Wisdom for twenty-four hours. The count then resets.

One of these days I might elaborate Jie Chue a bit, but I admit to being of two minds about the idea; the detail would be good, but a little of the oddity of "his" posts might get lost in the translation.

Glad to have you back blogging! I love the feel of your spells and magic items especially, and look forward to more musings from you. (I've wanted to unleash a swarm of cricipters on a party ever since I read about them.)

The sword is cool, but the "Scorched Earth" strikes me as kind of brutal for a "limit break"; most times, the wielder's friends will get caught in the blast too. Also, did you intend for the wielder to not be able to give him/herself the AC bonus?